Senator Ted Stevens made internet history when he called labeled it a “series of tubes” back in 2006, but what a difference two years make.

You can see the way technology influences society in this year’s presidential race, where all the candidates remaining have harnessed the power of the Internet like never before, a fact which has undoubtedly given much fodder for IST 110. Presidential longshot Ron Paul made broke new ground in late 2007 with a viral movement that made him the internet candidate of choice, while Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain release video after video on YouTube and keep voters informed with blogs and campaign updates from the road.

In particular, it’s interesting to see how the candidates have embraced YouTube as a viable alternative media. To old-school campaigns, it must seem like a miracle technology: YouTube videos can reach millions of viewers in just days. They can run longer than television commercials with no extra cost, without any cost of distribution, in fact. There are hoards of people for each candidate willing to make them for free. And they feel far more grassroots and genuine than a mass-syndicated commercial that costs millions to run across the nation.

Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” video features an A-list of big-name celebrities and four and a half minutes of praises for Obama’s campaign. It doesn’t cost the Obama campaign a dime to host it, distribute it, or even advertise it as it’s mostly viral. Two presidential elections ago this was not even possible.

But it’s not just big name celebrities or lobbyists with deep pockets getting their messages out. YouTube enables unlikely spokesman Dan Drinker to contribute to the political race. Dan Drinker has Down’s Syndrome, but that hasn’t stopped him from making a political impact in this race. His YouTube video endorsement of Barack Obama has made internet waves lately, and shows exactly how viral videos can be as it has spread across blogs.

There’s no guaranteed way to make a YouTube video a success, and internet fame does not always translate into the real world. Mike Gravel’s unusual video in the style of dada failed to keep him in the race. That hasn’t kept YouTube from becoming a major tool in each campaign. In IST it’s our job to study and understand the link between technology and our society; we are lucky to witness the emergence of a new medium used in politics.

My apologies for only including pro-Obama videos in this post. If anyone has similar videos for any candidate, please include them in the comments and I’ll be glad to add them.

Tags: politics, society, technology, youtube

Categories: Opinion